Rafael Nadal’s winning streak ended in the final of the Nordea Open, where Portuguese No. 7 seed Nuno Borges defeated him 6-3, 6-2 on Sunday afternoon in Bastad. Rafa was playing his first title match since his 2022 French Open triumph, but saw his serve broken five times in the one-hour and 27-minute contest as Borges won his maiden tour final.
Congratulations to Nuno. You played great all week. You deserve it more than anyone else. Enjoy your moment. It’s a special moment winning a title. I wish you all the very best for the rest of the season.
I have been here during the whole week and a half enjoying this amazing place. I really had fun on court. I played some long and good matches. Today wasn’t my best day. But all credit to Nuno. He played very very well and it was difficult for me, so well done.
Despite the loss, it was still a good comeback week for Rafa, and he should be proud of his performance.
Rafa, with an 11-6 record for the year, will now focus on preparing for the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he will enter the men’s singles using a protected ranking and also team up with Carlos Alcaraz in the men’s doubles.
As long as Rafa continues to play, I will continue to follow tennis. Rafa makes tennis exciting. Rafa is committed to keep improving. Rafa was deeply disappointed in his play in the final and wants to analyze with his team in the spirit of improving. Hope he can figure it out in time for the Olympics. It will be a race against time but I fully trust he will confirm to do better. This makes it exciting for us fans.👍🙂🥇🏆
Unfortunately, Rafa has had to adapt his serve to protect his body. So the serve is not the weapon it was before the injury. This inevitably leads to long rallies which take their toll on him, at 38. As always, Rafa did all he could but it looks like he was exhausted, both physically and mentally yesterday, after two previous gruelling three setters. Remember he played several doubles matches too, which he would not normally do. So a lot of tennis in a very short space of time. He is obviously disappointed with his level but we must not expect miracles. He has played very few competitive matches in the last eighteen months. The serve is the problem but if he reverts to his old serve he risks more injury. Very frustrating for him and quite a conundrum. Let’s hope he is able to rest and recuperate this week.
I am sorry to write my first negative word ever about Rafa Nadal. I have been one of his biggest admirers since his first win against Roger at a slam. I am always glad for his being truthful. I think this is one time he was not completely truthful , He either was terribly full of NERVES or for some reason did not fight back at all. He certainly was the much much better player . I still LOVE him, but was terribly disappointed at the finals
In 2013, Rafa returned from injury in Vina Del Mar. He played great but lost in the final. 2013 turned out to be a glorious year for us Rafans.
2024 seems different though. The serve is not promising- and it leads to rallies which Rafa does not really need right now. The forehand down the line is awol. Rafa cannot win the olympics or go very deep, without that weapon.
I’m trying to be realistic, that’s all. I will watch every match that my champ plays. But I will not get too excited- it was no fun seeing Rafa get blown away today by Borges, who played great and made Rafa look ordinary. Kinda the same way Rafa made others look for so long in his career.
Stay healthy and good luck in the Olympics champ!!
Every step that’s an improvement over the previous performances is a win.
If a favourable result in the coming Olympics is the goal, then Rafa is tracking well. He wouldn’t want to peak early.
With everyone else I’m sure that fatigue after such a taxing week of tennis contributed to how Rafa played. But there are things that need fixing before the Olympics including especially his serve. His team has reconstructed his serve in order to protect his hip. I don’t know all that’s involved but Rafa is obviously not completely comfortable with it yet. He is very deliberate when the serve is in motion. As deliberate as he is he still suffers from double faults. Rafa had very few aces this week and he couldn’t get the serve down the T to work.
Rafa only has a week but I am sure he and his team will find the solution. Good luck Rafa!
Rafa, stay healthy and happy! As Rafa stated in the press conference, his priority now is the Paris Olympics. We wish Rafa all the best in Paris. Hope Rafa can rediscover his best tennis!
Even though I was rooting for Rafa, Borges deserved his first ATP title win because he was the better player, so congratulations to him.
Let’s take the positives where Rafa’s concerned. We saw a healthy Rafa, playing a full week without being injured and getting wins under his belt. Yes, it wasn’t the Rafa of old, but at least he got plenty of court time and he can now rest up and recharge for the Olympics.
Nadal now is beginning to know his real problem. It’s not his injuries. It’s his age. Once he knows the true problem, he will know the solution.
Looking at the stats in the final, Rafa had 5 winners and 19 unforced errors. That’s not normal at all for Rafa. It was a completely off day for Rafa. Rafa can only get better from here, and hope Rafa plays his best consistently at the upcoming Paris Olympics. Vamos!
Rafa ran out of gas in the Bastad final. Rafa needed a day off to recover from two very grueling matches (over 6 hours on the court in 2 consecutive days) in a row to win the title. Not sure anyone would really be able to have a full tank after so much tennis…not even Carlos Alcaraz. After all, Rafa is 38 years old and trying to recover a lot of things he lost during the last couple years of injuries. It didn’t happen in Sweden, but Paris Olympics is one week away, and I know Rafa can do better in Paris. As Rafa said, Paris is where it makes sense to give his all and “die” on court.
Rafa can be proud of his performance this week in Sweden. It’s the first time he has won 4 matches in a row in almost 2 years. It’s onward and upward from here. Best of luck and wins in Paris Olympics, Rafa!
After that performance at RG against Zverev, I was expecting Rafa to win here. And I felt more so after the straight sets win against Norrie. But after the Norrie match, seeing Rafa struggle and grind like that in the next two matches against unknown players and now losing so easily against Borges, I’m kinda losing hope for a real comeback.
Anybody else feels the same?
Rafa-this may not have been your best day, but it is progress being in the final. Olympics
ahead! Hope you are healthy-we know how you fought to reach final. All the best👏🙏❤️
Not surprising that the many hours on court on consecutive days finally caught up to Rafa at age 38. He seems to have had a lot of fun there which was great to see. Hoping for the best result at his second home of Roland Garros next week. Vamos!
I totally agree, I figured that if he had a day off and would have played tomorrow, perhaps the outcome would have been better.
Rafa I’m sure is still proud of what he accomplished in Bastad, so are we his fans.
On to Paris and the best of luck!